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Writing with Passion
By Tom Romano

I chose to read this book for no other reason than the title grabbed me, but I will admit I expected to be disappointed. However, at just over 200 pages, "Writing with Passion" is not the painful textbook slog I expected it to be. I don't know exactly why that was my expectation, but I don't think I've ever read a non-fiction book that was less academic and more anecdotal than this one is. There are eleven chapters and a handful of appendices. Each chapter ends with a short poem or prose selection that illustrates integration with the overall theme of the book. The appendices are individual, unrelated pieces of writing in different styles by different contributors, and a couple of them are highlights of this book.

The theme of "Writing with Passion" is essentially a plea for authenticity. Romano endorses writing from the heart without pushing for a particular style, opting to advocate for the expression of true self and knowing that this authenticity is messy, layered, and real. "Writing is a mural, not a snapshot," he said in the opening of Chapter 4. "It is large and contains multitudes: meticulously-developed thinking that shares vision and ideas with unknown others; scribbled, cryptic notes to trigger memory; complicated novels peopled with dozens of characters…" One can picture this visually, particularly if they are from a city with murals found on city walls.

I get from "Writing with Passion" that a bit of poetry scribbled on a napkin in a restaurant has more authenticity, more passion, than some hyper-produced, written-by-committee, high-budget screenplay or novel created for the sake of popularity or profit. This implies that the feedback for and grading of such works should include constructive intentions designed not to pick apart word usage and punctuation, but instead to encourage authentic expression and a passion for art for art's sake, without worrying about a perfect grade. The student very likely has never been told that it is okay to do freewriting about any subject in using any form they choose. More often than not, they will have been told to create something in the style of this famous poet or that well-known essayist. It is hard to write with passion when the finished product so clearly has to conform to someone else's value system. Creative writing in general does not lend itself to traditional grading. It would be better to push students to plumb the depths of their own values and find their own words without regard for being "wrong" or "right." Labels kill passion. They kill it.